Yep I am jumping on the bandwagon…and adding my two cents worth.
Everywhere I turn I see tweets and posts on FB about this. Luckily so far I haven’t noticed any ignorant comments from people I know. But seeing some of the comments on news articles just shows that people really don’t know what they are actually talking about.
Usually when I start seeing Islam bashing, I crack open the popcorn (can’t really crack open a bottle of wine), put my feet up and watch the drama unfold. Sometimes it is downright hilarious, sometimes sad, and sometimes totally shocking.
This time I thought I would write a blog post. (In all honesty, I was running short of things to blog about!)
So what has caused the big hoo haa this time….apparently Subway has decided to make some of it’s stores halal. And then it emerged Pizza Express’s chicken is halal. But apparently that has been halal for a while……but it has all kicked off now. I am surprised KFC hasn’t been dragged into this as some of it’s branches are halal too.
Please note the word SOME.
It makes business sense for them to make particular branches halal where the majority of community are Muslim. More money for them.
I doubt they are doing it to pander to the whims of the Muslims or because sharia law is creeping into the country. It makes sense to them…they are seeing the pound signs!
So those who are screaming and shouting about it are initially shouting about it because they believe Muslims are taking over the UK. Okaaay…we are taking over the world by making eating establishments halal……. I doubt making a Subway halal is the top of anyone’s list.
Then comes the issue of the method of killing.
In Islam there are strict guidelines to the way an animal must be slaughtered:
- The animal must have it’s throat cut – this has to be a swift incision to the throat using a razor sharp blade.
- The animal must be cared for before being slaughtered; given clean water to drink and checked that it is healthy.
- The animal must never see another animal before it being salughtered.
- The animal must never see the blade being used to slaughter it.
- When being slaughtered the animal must be turned to face Mecca and the name of Allah is spoken before the throat is cut.
- All blood must be drained out of the body.
The problem a lot of people have is with the slitting of the throat. But if people did their research first before kicking off they would realise that the animals are actually stunned for the meat being used in most of these restaurants.
There are two governing bodies when it comes to halal meat (Not sure if governing bodies is the right term here!)
HMC and HFA.
In brief, the HMC, Halal Monitoring Commitee, stand by the traditional method of slaughtering as they say that with stunning, an animal can die before the ritual slaughter. Therefore the meat would not be halal. However, the HFA, Halal Food Authority, allow stunning before the slaughter. A lot of Muslims won’t eat HFA meat anyway as they don’t feel it is halal due to the stunning.
It seems that a lot of the places are using HFA meat, therefore it has been stunned. So what is the problem?
It is OK to go and have a curry and kebab at the local Muslim takeaway but if Subway decide they want to make some branches halal, then people suddenly don’t like the way the animals are slaughtered?
I don’t understand the whoo-ha that all this is causing! I think the media isn’t helping by stirring the pot as far as Islam is concerned. When I visit my in-laws I eat Kosher meat, I don’t sit and think – oh my, this chicken was slaughtered in a different way, it must have something wrong it…it’s still chicken!
I’m pretty sure a lot of people don’t even have a clue what Halal (and Kosher) meat is, and unless they were told about it, they would think they’re just eating “regular” meat. All just ridiculous in my opinion!
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OOh I cringe at this subject as last time I comment on something similar, war broke out on my own timeline and I removed a few people for racist comments.
I am sure you are aware its about plain old horrible prejudice more than how an animal is killed.
If people really feel aggrieved for the animal, they need to google the suffering caused to non Halal livestock to get a balanced view, rather than just attacking people.
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Thanks for explaining a bit more about halal! I don’t really get what all of the fuss is about for people that aren’t Muslim. It really doesn’t bother me if the meat is halal or not, why would it? I am interested in what it tastes like! If places want to sell halal meat to widen their customer base and give more choice for everyone then why not! Unfortunately there will always be the ignorant minority that like to kick up a fuss!
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I think the “taking over the UK” furore stems more from the fact that there is no toleration (or even acceptance) or Western culture in the vast majority of Islamic countries yet followers of Islam expect to be able to have Muslim schools, food, laws etc in Western Countries. Mutual toleration would be a massive step forward and help this controversy hugely. Traditional Islam is centuries out of date with their treatment of women too, it frustrates those in the West who have moved on, and it would be hypocritical to recognise Shar’i’a Law in a modern, progressive country.
Regarding the food – it’s more to do with accepting Shar’i’a Law then a type of food, which I hope our country never does. Stoning belongs in the Stone Age.
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The press like nothing better than a bit of scaremongering. You make an excellent point about not wondering about how our meat from the takeaway was sourced.
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As the DIL of a farmer I understand that animal welfare is really important to people and it should be. I fear that this is just a storm in a teacup where yet again religion is being used to hide the bigger issue. I think we should all know where our meat has come from and how it has been killed./
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I do agree that people are going over the top on this and that most are just jumping on the bandwagon without fully understanding!
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People will always create an uproar against anything that it different. I actually think the way the slaughter for halal meat if preferable to how most slaughter houses do it. I can’t think about it much more or I will be back to being a veggie x
Sometimes I think people have to complain, and often religion will be at the root of the arguments.
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To be honest, as a vegetarian, I try not to listen to much to do with this – animals being killed doesn’t sit well with me however it happens.
Media always seem to make a big deal of normal things. I don’t get the idea behind this, but anyway. I think that it’s good some places decide to sell Halal meat. It does not change many things after all.
And most of the time in these debates, people talk about things they don’t know anything about. It’s even sadder.
Take care and may you all have a great weekend!
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Not a meat eater my self I really have no views on any form of meat all I can say is that we are all individuals and have the right to choose what we eat and what we don’t and no one should dictate otherwise.
I can’t say I’ve heard anything about this (I don’t watch or read the news) so I’d need to do some research before I could comment and know what I’m talking about!
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This whole story is just confusion in it self, I am a meat eater and I know that killing an animal to feed myself is very pleasant. I can understand why the veggie’s kick up a storm but not when meat eaters kick off a storm, we’re all killing an animal and eating it anyway! Please do not let some ignorant comments get you down, especially ones found within the media xx
I don’t understand the furore surrounding this – I saw last night that the supermarkets are stocking halal meat as standard and not labelling it as such, but does it real matter. Meat is meat and if it means the animals are looked after better before being killed then all the better
From what I have seen on the news, groups are calling for meat to be labelled as “stunned” or “not-stunned” rather than having an issue with halal or kosher meat. I would not want to eat meat that has not been stunned so I would be in favour of this labelling. I buy from a butcher so I know how the animals I eat were looked after and how they are killed. I think that the issue in restaurants is that you don’t know where the meat comes from so clear labelling is the way forward. Give people information and then they can make choices for themselves. I don’t think this is a debate about religious beliefs, it is a debate about clear labelling and allowing people to choose what is right for them.
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I’ve not really paid much attention to the whole debate if i’m honest. Great post though!
I think this must have passed me by but in general there will always be people wh want to campaign for one thing or another and the least little things seems to set off huge backlashes lately.
Thanks for the info x x
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It’s a really interesting subject and as long as meat is labelled properly I don’t see what the problem is.
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Ooooh isn’t this whole thing just going crazy! I (probably like most Muslims) was more confused that all these places have been halal all this time and I’ve missed a trick and could have eaten there all this time ;p
Seriously speaking though I was pretty gutted to find some of the closet rascists coming out to Muslim bash about the whole thing; some friends! I’ve unfollowed those now. I don’t need to see that kind of crap in my timeline. I understand the need to clearly label everything so that people know how their meat has been sourced and killed. It did make me laugh my head off though at all the people that were completely outraged who would gladly eat a curry for a halal place. Crazy people out there.
As a vegetarian I can’t get particularly worked up about this one, though I do think that anything that makes people think a little more about what they’re eating and how it got on to their plate is a good thing. I think people are often scared of what they don’t understand, so thanks for writing this to help us know more.
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I think the media have really wound this story up by commenting and posting about it. Personally I have tried to pay very little attention to it all. Everyone likes to scream and shout when they see something different.
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I think it’s important to know where our food comes from. Some of us want to be in denial, that’s all. All this hoopla is funny…it’s free advertising for some of the restaurants anyway.
I really hate when people make a problem where there really isn’t one.
It is so silly to start an unnecessary drama.
What’s wrong with halal meat?
Great post, I understand all of this and I really don’t see there being any problem at all. Just another thing for people to talk about.
Thanks for sharing this, I hadn’t really taken any notice to all the hype as it sounds like people are jumping on the bandwagon. I don’t see the problem with it. x
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